


Never Let Your Fear Decide Your Fate

by ToukoTai



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Future AU, Gen, Immortality, Reincarnation, a lil bit of cyberpunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-04-29 07:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5119727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToukoTai/pseuds/ToukoTai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten thousand years in the future. Somethings are different and somethings remain the same.<br/>And the Kaitou Kid keeps his secrets, unless you know how to ask.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Something I threw together, so it's not nearly as fleshed out as it could be, but I got lazy.  
> Tags will be updated as major plot points get revealed.
> 
> Title taken from Kill your Heroes by AWOLNATION

Shinichi woke up ten thousand years in the future.

Well, that wasn’t _exactly_ correct.

Shinichi died ten thousand and sixty one years in the past.

Shinichi was born sixteen and a half years ago

It had been half a year since Shinichi woke up to eighty six years of a previous life flooding his head. Memories of a past life spent in the twenty first century so long gone. Memories of solving murders and struggling through a second childhood. Of very close friends he’d never met in this time and family who for whatever reason, hadn’t remembered.

It was very disorientating, but at least he wasn’t the only one.

Hattori had called him not even an hour after waking up on that fateful day. Turned out they were living in the same city. He was not so lucky with Ran, living on one of the far flung colony planets.

The shouen tentai lived two planets over from his. And Ai was in a different galaxy altogether.

Hakuba lived two cities over.

And with Hakuba had come communication from Akako and Aoko, both living on the far side of the planet. Aoko, who had asked, first casually and then with increasing urgency, if anyone had heard from Kaito.

No one had.

Throughout the whole day and for weeks after, Shinichi had been kept on pins and needles. Hyper aware of his vidphone. But no word ever came.

Kaito never checked in.

 

Shinichi refused to believe it had anything to do with the fact that Kaito had _left_. Vanished, not three months after their twenty fifth birthdays. He remembered it very distinctly.

In the months leading up to Kaito’s disappearance, he’d been acting more and more _off_. But Shinichi hadn’t had the time to call him on it, things coming to a head with a huge international case he was involved in. He had assumed it was due to Heist planning, though Kaito had yet to announce one. From what he learned after, no one else had had the time or the ability to pin Kaito down either.

And then he was just _gone_. There one day, gone the next. No word, no message, nothing. Apartment abandoned, bank account never touched again, cellphone left behind. No sign of a struggle, no sign of a break in, nothing taken, nothing out of place, nothing missing. No weapon, no blood, no body. Not a single trace. It was just as though Kaito had left to go get his mail and just never came back.

No matter how hard Shinichi searched, no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find a single clue as to where or _why_ Kaito left. He never stopped looking until his death at the age of eighty six.

Kaito Kuroba’s disappearance remained the single unsolved case to Shinichi’s name.

The Kaitou Kid was never heard from for the reminder of their lives.

 

The future is very different. Hovercars are a thing, neural implants to jack you right into the matrix net, vacations to planets in different galaxies, _AI_.

And then some things never changed at all. Murders still happened; crimes still got committed, a shadowy group had a penchant for wearing black and using alcoholic and animal nicknames tail you around.

And the Kaitou Kid performed on an almost monthly basis.

By performed, Shinichi really meant, made a ridiculous show of stealing some fabulously decadent gem, only to return it a week later. With no explanation.

Exactly as he had the first time around. And, Shinichi and the others were quickly learning, had continued to do so, on and off for the last ten thousand years. Even the sections of the historical record that were lost to time(such as their own original time), Shinichi would be willing to bet Kid had been active somehow in some way. There’d be stretches of decades here and there were nothing was heard from the thief and then suddenly he’d be back with a bang for twenty or thirty years, the longest was a count of eighty continuous.

 

Currently Kid was active, very much so. And where there was Kid, Kaito couldn’t be far behind. Indeed, it was entirely possible that this Kid _was_ Kaito. Or at the very least was training him as next in line. (Kaito had always been frustratingly vague on the details surrounding his night life and how it’d come to be.)

Which left the problem of why _Kaito_ hadn’t made contact.

And the only way to get an answer was to manage the seemingly impossible.

They had to catch Kid.

 

“It appears as though Kuroba somehow managed to cement a legacy.” Hakuba mused, voice a little tight with annoyance. He’d been extremely put out to see all the articles, books and scholarly dissertations written and published about Kid. Over ten thousand years’ worth in fact. “I was certain it wouldn’t last beyond him.”

“So was I.” Shinichi mumbled, finger gliding over a line of text describing a Heist from forty five years ago where Kid had stolen the Jinkori Ambassador’s jeweled sash of office right before peace talks were due to start. It was discovered during the Heist itself that the Ambassador was plotting to sabotage the peace talks. Something that wouldn’t have been found out if not for the added scrutiny that a Kid Heist brought. Hakuba was ninety five percent sure that was the reason Kid had stolen the sash in the first place and Shinichi was inclined to agree.

Good to know the spirit of Kid had remained true to the original, even after all this time and all those different people who must have worn the monocle.

“He’s gotta know right?” Hattori asked. “He ain’t stupid, he’s gotta know they’re after him. Hardcore. Take no prisoners after him.”

“It’s more than possible; I’d say it’s definite. He knew the first time around, this time he has prior knowledge.”

Shinichi nodded in agreement. The hunt for Kid was a lesson in frustration. Heists didn’t happen with any real regularity and none had been made in any area that any of them could get to. Always in some far off planet or colony or station. Which was a strike that Kaito wasn’t yet Kid. At sixteen like the rest of them, Kaito would be confined to a small area to perform in, much as he had in their first lifetime. He wouldn’t be able to pop up in one mining colony one time and then pull off another Heist two months later on a crystal gridstation three galaxies away the next time. With unknown resources and restrictions, and still not knowing Kid’s goal, there was no way to predict where the next Heist would take place before the announcement. No way to head it off or figure out a way to get there.

That left only one option.

Not all of Kid’s Heists were physical.

Some were purely digital.

A show of hacking usually performed on a major company. These Heists felt more like a hobby Kid indulged in, as there was no prize for him to take. They were a pure show, to entertain and to humble.

And the only option they had to make contact with Kid.

 

For over half a year Ai had worked, with Shinichi and Hakuba assisting, and finally they had found it. A backdoor to a back door to a backdoor, an indirect convoluted way to neurodive into Kid’s connection during Heists. They could only send a message, and it would only work once. Once Kid had the message, he’d know how they got in, and they wouldn’t be able to use it again. Luckily Shinichi knew just the message to send to get Kid’s curiosity.

 

“Ya sure about this?” Hattori asked. Shinichi nodded, fitting on the neurodive visor. “Ya only got one shot.” The first Digital Heist since they found the messaging was about to start. Kid would be making his appearance on the Matrix network in five minutes and Shinichi would be there to meet him.

“I know. I’m ready.” The neurodive lit up and he wasn’t in the safehouse anymore, but on the Matrix server. Other divers crowding onto the server with him waiting for Kid’s arrival, security bots patrolling the edges of the crowd waiting for a chance. Not paying attention to the countdown, Shinichi headed to the fringes of the server, finding the first of the series of backdoors he needed, heading up with each new one.

Four backdoors in and he caught a glimpse of white. Abandoning the search for the fifth backdoor, Shinichi chased after the flicker of color, being rewarded by the sight of a white specter when he dashed around a corner.

It was Kid standing there, watching the diver crowd below them. White suit, white cape, white gloves, white top hat, and a completely blank face, no mouth, no nose and the monocle resting where eyes should be.

_It’s an avatar_. Shinichi had to remind himself as the blank face turned to him. _Just an avatar_. Swallowing hard, he sent out the chat message invite.

**_?_ **

And couldn’t resist the smile that spread over his face at the answer as the invite was accepted.

**_!_ **

As the connection opened, the avatar of Kid split in two. The blank faced Kid stepped away, dropping backwards over the edge of the backdoor, just as the countdown hit zero and the crowd roared. An exact copy, except this one had a mouth, a nose, hair more brown then black and eyes hidden by the brim of his hat, was left behind. But this Kid was Kaito. The blank faced clone was a bot. Shinichi’s smile took on the looks of a smirk. So Kid wouldn’t be disappointing his audience after all. His attention refocused completely on the connection, the first full message from Kid, from _Kaito_ , filtering through.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, meitantei?”

And now the game began in earnest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lil bit of gore at the end of this chapter. just fyi

Shinichi rubbed his forehead, trying to fight off a budding headache from the strain of getting into Kaito’s connection to start with and having him cut it so suddenly.

“He severed the connection. There was half a second and he cut and ran.”

“That’s hardly surprising.” Hakuba spoke up, watching the read out from the encounter carefully. “How long have we spent chasing after him? Running is practically his default state.”

“I told him I knew him, I said his name and he ran.” Hakuba cocked his head to the side.

“You think it’s odd?” He narrowed his eyes when Shinichi remained quiet. “You think something’s wrong.”

“Just a feeling. Why cut and run when I called him by name? It makes no sense.” Hakuba blinked. Shinichi clasped his hands under his chin, thinking the encounter over. Something wasn’t right. Remembering the bewildered stare when he said Kaito’s name, the way Kaito talked, as though they were friends but not letting Shinichi in past surface teasing. The Kid persona firmly in place. The only time Kaito had come out was at the end, when he cut the connection.

“Alright, what’s to say _this_ Kid is even Kuroba? He might not have taken up the mantle yet.” Hakuba spun a stylus around in his fingers.

“It’s him, I know it.” Shinichi returned, quickly, decisively. “He called me _meitantei._ ” Hakuba raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Why use a dead language?”

“Exactly.”

“This is Kuroba and for whatever reason, because reason hardly ever applied to him in the first place, he’s not making contact.”

“Which means _we_ need to.”

 

“Thanks for meeting me.” Kaito raised an eyebrow at him. The wind from the rooftop tugging at his jacket. “In person.” Shinichi felt the need to clarify.

After that first turbulent meeting at the Heist Hack, the only thing that Shinichi had been able to determine was that this Kid _was_ Kaito. It’d taken a lot of patience as two other digital Heists had gone by with the backdoor barred, before finally the door had been unbarred and Kaito, curious as a cat, had agreed to an in person meeting. Shinichi had named the place, Kaito had named the time.

Now here they were, staring each other down from the rooftop. A _real_ rooftop this time, not a digital simulation.

It was a bit of a shock. Seeing Kaito. He was _older_ than they were, older then he was supposed to be. He looked to be in his mid-twenties instead of sixteen like the rest. Though looks didn’t mean anything with a master of disguise.

“There any particular reason you wanted to meet or was this just for some chit-chat?” The words were a bit off, but the tone of his voice and the energy he carried himself with were as familiar as ever. This _was_ Kaito, no mistake.

But he was _wrong_. He was less showy, more guarded, less careful in some ways, more careful in others. He had none of the cocky, arrogant attitude of before, when he was Kid the first time around. None of the desperate, jumpy energy from when he _left_. None of the traces of the Poker Face he had worn in the last years.

He wasn’t dressed as Kid either, had probably decided to forgo that because Shinichi had asked for a meeting with _Kaito_. Instead, looking like any other early to mid-twenty year old out on the streets, though his color scheme ran toward dark greys and blacks. Perfect for blending into shadows.

Besides looking older, Kaito _felt_ older, older even then the mid twenties that he appeared. This Kaito was more self-assured, edges worn smooth, body displaying nothing but total calm. Completely at home within himself and his environment. A posture and attitude that came with experience. Experience far beyond teenage years. Something _Shinichi_ hadn’t yet obtained, even with his restored memories. He still found himself reacting and acting like the teenager he appeared. The others were prone to the same outbursts that he was, but Kaito, Kaito was _different._

“How old are you?” Shinichi blurted. Kaito’s grin stretched wider, a pair of dark vidglasses hid his eyes from view.

“That is the question isn’t it? But it’s certainly not an answer to mine.” Give and take. Kaito was always about give and take. If Shinichi wanted to get anywhere with him, he had to give something up. He was more than okay with that, it was part of the reason he had demanded a meeting after all.

“There’s some very bad people, very literally gunning for you.” The short beat of silence following his pronouncement was broken by Kaito laughing. Laughing _hard_ , it sounded like he did indeed find Shinichi’s warning _very_ amusing. Extremely so.

“Ah, metentai, when isn’t there?” He said, after stopping to take a breath. “There’s always _someone_ after me. Nature of being, well, _me_.” The mild burn of frustration that Shinichi had been feeling during the exchange finally boiled over, with that simple nickname. Everything was the same, everything was different, it all felt so _familiar_ , like all of their bantering in past. Except that Kaito knew him but didn’t _know_ him.

“What _happened_ to you?” Shinichi’s hands balled into fists. “You should know _me_ , you should remember!”

“It might help,” Kaito cut in before Shinichi could really work himself up. “If you told me what this was all about. I’m not a detective like you.”

“We died, Kaito.” Shinichi spat. “We lived out our lives and we died. And now we’re all living again. Centuries later. We remember, we’ve been finding each other. The only one missing is you. We’re getting tired of waiting.” Shinichi fully expected Kaito to laugh him off and leave. Instead, he grinned. It wasn’t a nice grin; it was the grin of someone who knew something you didn’t.

“Oh. I can see what the problem is,” Kaito’s voice had a sharp edge to it, a laughing edge. He didn’t get to finish. There was the sound of displaced air, a sharp _thwip_. In front of Shinichi’s eyes, a perfect round hole appeared in Kaito’s forehead and his body crumpled in slow motion, cut off mid-sentence. Blood started to run down Kaito’s face as his body hit the ground. Lips still stretched in a shark’s smile. Behind him was the shooter, a man in black, face obscured, gun still in hand. Shinichi’s skin crawled, even as his mind threatened to shut down.

He wasn’t the target; he wasn’t ever their target in this life, probably not even on their radar. The organization, on both sides was only seriously after one person.

 _Kid_.

Who had been standing right in front of Shinichi, in arms reach and now was sprawled on the ground, dark red blood pooling around his head and matting his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS MY HAND SLIPPED


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you have _any_ idea how long we’ve been trying to find that bastard?” The man asked, as he stepped neatly around Kaito. (Kaito’s corpse.) His partner stopping longer enough to place two fingers against Kaito’s neck. It made Shinichi want to scream, when the man grinned as he stood back up.

No pulse.

“Good riddance.” The pulse checker growled around his grin. “Pain in the ass that he’s been. Never thought he’d make it so easy.” Shinichi almost couldn’t process what was being said, his body reacting on instinct, but not being able to completely follow through, backing up, shaking and stumbling, the two Organization members advancing. Finally, his mind caught up to him, his legs obeying enough to turn and run, dodging behind what cover he could to the sound of gun shots.

A litany of _Kaito_ and _dead_ swirling around his head.

And it was their fault. _His_ fault.

Kaito would have stayed safe in whatever little hidey hole he had, if Shinichi had not drawn him out in the open. Where the organization was waiting.

Stupid to think they weren’t keeping tabs on them. Stupid to assume they weren’t being watched as closely as before. They hadn’t considered it, they’d gotten impatient, _sloppy_.

And Kaito paid the price.

He’d led them straight to Kaito. And now Kaito was dead. Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.

It was a mad chase over the wide expansive rooftop. The sound of random gunshots, feet skidding across gravel as Shinichi and the two gunmen played a dangerous game of hide and seek. Shinichi was thankful that he had chosen a rooftop with a lot in the way of pipes, billboards and exposed framework. (Chosen to make Kaito feel comfortable and unthreatened. Ironic now.)

But between having two pursuers and having his focus completely and utterly _shattered_ , it was only a matter of time until he was cornered.

“Two birds with one shot.” Kaito’s Killer gloated. “Or really _two_ shots, eh Tiger?” Tiger didn’t respond. “Tiger?” A faint gurgling was his only answer as his partner slowly toppled to the side. Moonlight revealing a razor edged card, a two of clubs, buried in his neck.

“Don’t worry.” The shooter froze at the voice. “I missed the jugular. If you hurry, he’ll pull through just fine.” Shinichi, facing away from the voice, slammed his eyes shut. _Kaito was dead._

“You-you _can’t be_.” The man’s voice shook.

“Oooh, but I _am_. Better hurry.” Shinichi stayed still and quiet, eyes closed as he hears the organization shooter struggle to gather up his bleeding partner and then stagger away with the weight making his gait lopsided.

The sound of a pair of steady steps walking up behind him, stopping just out of arm’s reach. He could feel the other’s presence behind him, gaze boring into the back of his head.

“Your problem.” An impossible voice intoned, picking up a conversation that had been started a mere twenty minutes and a lifetime ago.

Shinichi’s eyes snapped open, brain snapping on again. No way, there was no way. He’d seen the wound himself, the brain matter, had seen the body fall. There wasn’t any coming back from a headshot like that. Shinichi whirled around. Kaito swung the card gun around on a finger, impossibly, blessedly, _alive_. Teeth bared in his laughing grin.

“Is that I would have had to die,” He continued, Shinichi stared as the hole in Kaito’s head finished mending itself and the blood dried on Kaito’s face. “For your reincarnation memory _thing_ to apply,” A face that was missing the dark vidglasses, showing eyes that were no longer any shade of blue, but a luminous bright blood red. “And dying is something I have a bit of difficulty doing.”

 

All those years, centuries, millennia and through it all the Kaitou Kid remained, a historical constant. Papers had been written about it, books, movies, tv shows, video games. No one had ever caught the Kid; no one knew what he wanted or why he stole. No one had ever even managed to get a glimpse of the man behind the monocle. Sure, there were imposters and people who claimed to be Kid, who later were proven to not even have the faintest idea of who the real Kid was. The real Kid remained shrouded completely in mystery.

All those Heists perfectly executed, not single one feeling _wrong_ , not a single one feeling as though someone other than Kaito had planned and pulled them off.

Shinichi had assumed Kaito and his successors had just trained the next in line very well. Shinichi really should have known better, they all should have known better, but immortality had not been on the list of things to consider. Not even Akako had entertained the thought.

They really should have. Three detectives and a witch and they’d overlooked every single sign.

There was no way anyone could train a successor so well, that even ten thousand years down the line, it still seemed the work of the original.

They had written it off as a reincarnated Kaito being the one planning the Heists.

Except Kid had been active for the last thirty five years, _continuously_. Pulling off at the very least two Heists a year. Longer then they had been alive, and none of the recordings or records of any of the previous Heists felt any different from a genuine Kaito planned Heist.

Which should be impossible.

A successor would have added their own signature or flair, would have taken away something, would have _changed_ something in the way Kid did things. After all, Kaito’s Heists were different from his father’s, but remained close enough to seem done by the same person. That wouldn’t be the case over ten thousand years of Heists and however many successors doing things.

But it was.

There’d only ever been two Kaituo Kids in all of history.

Toichi and Kaito.

_Hakuba was right_ , Shinichi thought faintly. _Kid didn’t go beyond Kaito._

Because Kaito hadn’t had successors.

He hadn’t needed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually Kaito doesn't have a problem dying, he does it all the time, he has a horrible problem _staying_ dead.
> 
> PS: You may have noticed that even being immortal isn't accounting for all of Kaito's weird behavior, I promise there's a really good reason for that. It's coming up next chapter. Which is also the last chapter.  
> This isn't really a plot driven fic, I just had an idea and wanted to get it out.   
> PPS: The playlist attached to this fic is from Kaito's point of view. Life's totally awesome to him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> laaaast chapter. I'm sorta dropping you off a cliff with the ending. Sorry, not really sorry.  
> Might do some one shots, might not. We'll see.  
> Also, props to Adryan Meredith Styx for putting the fic playlist in a...playlist.  
> http://www.listube.com/#connect=3J7a

“You’re…Kaito, you’re immortal.” Shinichi breathed out, a little in awe in spite himself. It was quite a lot to take in, in such a short amount of time. Kaito being _dead_ and then _not_. He ran a hand through his hair. “This...this is completely ridiculous.” Kaito’s smile went a bit soft at that. Lips falling down to hide some of his teeth.

“Don’t judge. You’re the guy with the reincarnation story.” He replied, cardgun disappearing behind his back. “As to your first question, I’m a little over ten thousand years old.” His first question. _How old are you?_

“How little is a little?” Shinichi felt his mouth firing on automatic. Kaito shrugged, hands slipping into his pockets.

“To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. I don’t remember the early years. Nothing from my first century, second century is also a wash and let’s not talk about the third century either.” He tilted his head, considering Shinichi. Red eyes sweeping up and down his frame and staring almost through his soul. Shinichi felt his breath stutter. The implications behind Kaito’s statement catching up to him.

“I’m Shinichi, Shinichi Kudo.” Kaito tilted his head to the side, out of polite interest, he’d already known Shinichi’s name, and Shinichi had foolishly assumed it was because Kaito had remembered him, but there was no glimmer of recognition, now that he was looking for it. Nothing beyond knowing his name and the facts of his life, Kaito didn’t _know_ him. He’d have done a thorough background search before agreeing to the meeting. Probably the reason why he had unbarred the backdoor in the first place. “We met when we were sixteen.” Shinichi said, desperation coloring his tone. Surely, of all the Heists they chased each other through; surely he _had_ to remember this one. It was important for more than just the two of them. “You were trying to steal the clocktower.” Shinichi’s heart sunk at the blank stare Kaito turned on him.

“That doesn’t sound like something I’d do. I don’t know if you noticed, but I pretty much exclusively do jewels.” He mused. “You sure you got the right guy?”

“Yes, the-the hands of the clock. They had emeralds in them.” Shinichi stuttered, Kaito shrugged again, no more recognition in his face then the moment before. “I shot at you.” Kaito’s brow furrowed.

“You shot at me? Are you sure we’re friends?” He asked, red eyes glinting with amusement.

“Near you.” Shinichi corrected. “I shot near you and yes. We’re friends.” It had never been a sentiment he’d needed to voice out loud to Kaito before. Which only brought home how _different_ things were going to be. It would be like starting completely over with Kaito, back when he was just getting comfortable as Kid and Shinichi was the Kid Killer. When they didn’t know each other _at all_.

“So...did I get them?”

“What? Oh, uh, no.” Kaito’s innocent question forcing Shinichi back into the present. “But you didn’t actually mean to steal them.” An eyebrow crusted with dried blood rose.

“Well, now you’re just not making any sense.” Kaito muttered, hands coming out of his pockets to cross over his chest in a display of childish pouting. A hysterical bubble of laughter rose in Shinichi’s throat, but he forced it back down. He’d never thought he’d see the day. Pulling one over on Kaito when he didn’t even mean to, when he’d give anything not to.

“You left a code on the face of the clock. Turned the clock tower into police evidence.” Aoko, if Kaito didn’t remember him, then he had to remember Aoko. _Had to_. Though the politely confused expression Kaito wore wasn’t encouraging in the least. “The clocktower was going to be demolished.” He explained in a rush, words tripping over each other. “The owners were corrupt; they’d replaced the real emeralds with fakes. You-you wanted the clocktower to stay.”

“Oh.” Kaito blinked, fingers snapping in revelation. “If it was evidence they couldn’t demolish it.”

“Yes!” Shinichi gasped. Maybe Kaito _did_ remember something!

“Okay. I was a genius even at sixteen. But uh, _why_?” And there went that hope, still. Shinichi had one last person to try.

“Because you met Aoko there. As kids.” Shinichi watched Kaito closely as he spoke. Nothing. Kaito looked just as slightly confused as before.

“Aoko?” This was even worse than Kaito not remembering him. If Kaito didn’t even remember Aoko, what chance did the rest of them have?

“Aoko Nakamori, childhood friend, she’s your childhood friend. You grew up next to each other! Her father was the leader of the first Kid task force!” Kaito shook his head, confusion being replaced with a different facial expression the louder and more desperate Shinichi got. A soft and sad expression. For him, Shinichi realized with a start, Kaito was sad, not for himself but for _Shinichi_.

“I’m sorry,” Kaito said voice kinder and gentler, with no trace of humor or sarcasm. “I don’t remember her.”

“You don’t remember her.” Shinichi repeated feeling numb. “You don’t remember us.” _You don’t remember **me**._

They’d never considered the fact that Kaito might not remember them. Well, they had, kind of. They’d been assuming he was like they were, reincarnated with all his memories intact, just waiting to be triggered or hiding from them or _anything_ but what was the truth. Which was that Kaito had been here the whole time, living life, living for so long he’d forgotten them. The truth was they were the ones who had left and Kaito had continued. On his own.

“I don’t remember. I’m sorry.” Kaito repeated, sounding genuinely sorry. That...that was what put Shinichi over. Kaito didn’t know him, didn’t know them. At all. And he was _sorry_ , more for Shinichi’s sake then his own.

Maybe it would have been better if Kaito had acted differently, had been more bloodthirsty, had been unhinged, had let the years and years of constant life and forgetfulness twist him into someone new, had been completely different from who Shinichi remembered.

Because despite being so old, despite forgetting who they were, had been, could be, despite forgetting _everything_ , he was still _Kaito_. One hundred and ten percent. Accept no substitutes. Nothing faked or forced.

And _he didn’t know Shinichi_.

“Whoa!” Kaito darted forward, hands catching Shinichi around the arms as his legs just folded under him. The stress, emotional toll, and adrenaline crash catching up to him in the form of his body just shutting down. He felt Kaito tug him upright, slinging one of Shinichi’s arms over his shoulders and wrapping his own arm around his waist, yanking the other boy flush against his body. Shinichi heard Kaito grumble to himself.

“Well, it was time for a venue change anyway.”

 

**_I knew the second Kid._ ** _Kaito frowned at the display, eyes narrowing. An avatar of a boy wearing large glasses and a red bow tie kicked its heels against the virtual ledge, childish smile turned smirk directed up at him as the avatar delivered its message. In the back of Kaito’s head something danced on the edge of his memories. But well over nine thousand years, is a long time, too long a time for someone to remember every year of his life. Especially not the beginning of it._

**_O rlly?_ ** _He sent through his avatar instead._

**_Yes, really. Kaito, I_ ** **know _you._** _Kaito froze and then slammed out of the connection on fight or flight instincts alone._

_Eyes blinking rapidly behind the visor. The coding he had been poking at in the background slipped through his metaphorical fingers. Numbers spilling across his virtual workspace. It had been a very long time since he had used that name, longer still that he had given it out. Centuries even. Kaito was his name, Kid was his handle. To the rest of the universe he was Kid, to himself he was Kaito._

_He didn’t know what it meant that this random stranger knew his name, knew him beyond just Kid. Seemed to have an intimate knowledge of **who** Kaito was. _

_It was a surprise, Kaito liked surprises. They were pretty rare for him these days._

_Even so, he’d have to be careful. If someone knew him, could track him down, that spelled trouble in his book. He cracked his knuckles and open a new private encrypted connection into the servers._

_Kaito reviewed the logs of the event, found the way the other had crashed his connection and set an extra lock. If the person checked out, maybe he’d invite the other back in. But for now, better safe then being cut open on a table and having the blood drained from his body._

_If there was one thing Kaito had learned from being immortal, there were worse fates then death._

_With that taken care of, it was time to do research on his newest fan. A name was a great place to start._

_He traced the intruder’s line back to the netID without any issues or obstacles. It was like the other wasn’t even trying to hide. In the span of forty seconds he had a name._

_Shinichi Kudo._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah that's right, TIME LAPSE INDUCED AMNESIA. He don't remember _shit_.  
>  The entire time Shinichi and the gang have angsting about him, Kaito's just been thinking 'what a weird bunch of sixteen year olds, my deju vu meter is off the charts. I should probably not get invo-OH WHO AM I KIDDING?'  
> Also Kaito is exactly 10,023 years old. He left two years after he became immortal. NOT THAT HE REMEMBERS.
> 
> The idea for this was I wanted an immortal Kaito that didn't go insane, or one that might have done so in the past, but he's been alive for so long, he's essentially been forced to come to terms with it. One who's come out the other end and is totally at peace with it.  
> The memory thing was just for kicks.

**Author's Note:**

> I bet most of you know where I'm going with this.
> 
> Playlist is:  
> Kill your Heroes by AWOLNATION  
> The Walker by Fitz and the Tantrums  
> Bulletproof by La Roux (This one makes me laugh for reasons you'll figure out next chapter.)  
> Skywalker by Project Dirty  
> Everything at Once by Lenka  
> Hey Man (Now you're really living) By the eels  
> Sway Your Head by We Shot the Moon  
> Oh my God by Hollow Wood


End file.
